Friday, April 13, 2018 11:40 am

25th charged in scheme to defraud BAE Systems

MATTHEW LEBLANC | The Journal Gazette

The list of employees charged in an alleged scheme to defraud BAE Systems through a tuition assistance program continues to grow.

Terrell D. Ward-Thomas was charged Friday in U.S. District Court in Fort Wayne with wire fraud. She is the 25th employee of the defense contractor with offices in Fort Wayne to be charged in the scheme.

Court documents show she will plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and pay back $6,750 she allegedly stole.

BAE changed its tuition assistance program in 2013 to allow for up-front payments, and the more than two dozen defendants allegedly stole more than $600,000 from the company, a subsidiary of a British defense contractor.

Ward-Thomas worked for the company from 2006 to 2016, court documents say.

For more on this story, see Saturday's print edition of The Journal Gazette or visit www.journalgazette.net after 1 a.m. Saturday.